General Motors' recently completed corporate data center in Warren, Michigan, has received a LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.

LEED stands for Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design, and Gold is the second highest certification level a building can get. The facility in Warren (a Detroit suburb) includes a flywheel for battery-free backup power and in-row cooling that reduces the need for electricity.

Randy Mott, SVP and CIO at GM, said, “We set out to consolidate our global IT infrastructure from 23 data centers to two, which is helping improve application performance while reducing operating costs and energy use. We’re not only gaining efficiencies from insourcing, but we’ve incorporated world-class energy-saving technology into the facility itself.”

When designing the facility, GM toured facilities owned by major high-tech and electrical companies to identify best practices for greater efficiency. As a result, the company switched from battery-based Uninterruptible Power Supply to one powered by mechanical flywheels and a diesel engine.

Flywheels reduce emissions, noise pollution and fuel consumption, according to GE. They also do not reqire a climate-controlled environment that batteries usually do.

Bernie Woytek, senior associate with Gensler, an architecture and design firm, said his company had built about five million square feet of data center space around the world and the GM facilty was one of the first ones to use flywheel technology. “It essentially eliminates a football field-sized room of batteries,” he said.

Data center aisles feature in-row cooling to contain heat in a smaller area so less air is moved, reducing electricity consumption. GM leverages Michigan’s cooler climate by pumping water outside to chill it naturally, allowing the cooling system to power down three-quarters of the year.

GM is also distributing power at higher voltages, eliminating transformers that generate heat to convert power to the appropriate voltage.

The facility's operators continually measure and analyze its power use in real time for optimal efficiency.

The data center, and a mirror facility under construction in Milford, Michigan, will eventually serve as dual nerve centers integrating all aspects of product development, manufacturing, marketing, sales and other business applications around the world.

During the construction process, GM recycled more than 99.7% of onsite materials, including 8,700 tons of asphalt, cardboard, concrete, metal, plastic and wood. Additionally, it reused more than 86,000 cubic yards of soil for nearby landscaping and walking paths.